Archive for December, 2009

Hey All,

Each day I train I will post up on the site as a workout of the day.

We are getting closer to launching bootcampdownder.tv so there is no time like the present to start shooting the sessions and posting them up on the site.

This session is called Fight Gone Bad and was designed by legend MMA - BJ Penn in preparation for one of his world title fights in the UFC.

Here is a rundown of the session and my total score:

30kg Thrashers

Double Unders Skipping

20kg Kettlebell Swings (can use Dumbell)

Rower (record calories)

Chins

You perform 1 minute at each station with 1 minute rest after the five stations.

Total Score: 263

To reach a total score, all you do is add up the total number of reps for each exercise, or calories for the rower. from each set and then combine them.

Here is the footage of the session for you:

Let me know what you think in the comments below?

There is a strong debate in the fitness community about eating after 7pm at night.

Well here in this post I am going to give you my take on it.

The time is 11:38 PM. And you know what? I’m eating.

What?? Eating after 7 PM?! Yes, you have read correctly, but I’m I breaking the rules?

As far as the whole “no eating after 7″ stuff goes,ha, ha, whatever….

According to some ‘fitness gurus, yes I am breaking the rules, but to be honest, that’s what I do and so should you.

Here’s why:

Let me just say that most rules of thumb in the fitness world are just people over complicating the matter and this whole ‘no eating after a certain time’ is exactly the same.

The recommendation is based on the idea that our metabolism slows in the evening as you prepare for bed, and eating during this time should be avoided so as not to have those calories stored as fat.

A good premise agreed but,

What we really want to avoid in the evening are foods that will rise your insulin, specifically carbohydrates, and for several reasons.

• 1. Your insulin sensitivity drops in the evening, which simply means that your body is not as responsive to insulin at night as it is during the day. When insulin sensitivity is low, carbohydrates are more easily stored as fat.
• 2. When blood insulin levels rise, fat burning takes a downward spiral and a “storage” environment is created within the body. This is a good thing after exercise or after an overnight fast to allow the body to “refuel”, but not good when your metabolism is slowing in the evening hours.

So, we can see why eating carbohydrates late at night aren’t ideal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t eat anything.

There is one very important tissue to think about here: MUSCLE. Think about what not eating does to muscle tissue.

If you finished dinner at 7 P.M. and then ate nothing until you woke up the next morning at 5 A.M., you just went a full 10-hours without feeding your muscles whatsoever.

This is a sure recipe for muscle loss, especially when dieting and already restricting calories.

Now, you may be thinking “I don’t really care about muscle” (especially if you are a female reading this), but believe me, you do.

Muscle is the most important tissue in the body. Let me tell you why:

When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down, and that also means weight-loss becomes all that much harder. Regardless of your physique goals, you want to maintain as much calorie burning muscle as possible. The slower the metabolism the fewer calories you burn at work and at rest.

So, back to the topic, what do you do to curb late-night cravings and assist with muscle tissue maintenance?

 A small meal consisting of a slow release protein and if possible, a small serve of green veggies (green beans are great here).

Something like cottage cheese with a small serve of slow release protein in ideal. It digests slowly over time, providing a mild, but steady influx of nutrients to muscle throughout the night, all while not interfering with your insulin levels.

Do you agree or disagree with me? Let me know in the comment section?

What is your favorite late night meal or snack?

Scott

I have recently returned from a wonderful trip to Perth where one of my businesses was fortunate enough to win the coveted:

 2009 Australian Personal Training Business of the Year

Beofre I left I posted a question in regards to whose fault is it that we are the fattest country in the world.

If you have a spare few minutes sit and listen to what some of Australia’s leading Government, media and fitness professionals had to say:

Be sure to leave a comment on your thoughts and rate this video for me.

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert

Hi All,

Well as most of you know I am the strength and conditioning coach for the Tuggeranong Hawks for the 2009/10 season.

So far we have been progressing very nicely, with the well over 50 guys to each training session, with the last month a fairly solid hit out focusing on quite a bit of base strength and fitness to have them ready for another gruelling season ahead.

We are only weeks away from a well earned break for the boys, so rest assured the next few weeks will be tough.

Here is a bit of footage from last weeks training:

As you can see some of the boys have got themselves in great nick during the off season with many of the players heading to the gym and taking on the strength programs I have assigned for them.

 Thanks to Club Lime Tuggeranong for the their on going support and sponsorship. It makes my life much easier to write the strength programs having most players at the same centre.

Keep up the great work boys, only two weeks left before the Christmas Break.

Scott

Strength and Conditioning Coach

Tuggeranong Hawks

Well after a few of my personal training clients have fallen of the band wagon for a variety of reason and have turned to food for comfort, I decided to write a post about it.

Did you know that the experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions.

Emotional eating (generally junk food) is the practice of consuming bigger than normal quantities of food - usually “comfort” or junk foods - when feeling bored, lonely, upset, self-esteem issues, stressed, angry, tired, anxiety, problems with relationships or sad.

Everyone eats for emotional reasons occasionally, but when the habit of using food to deal with emotions happens often, it becomes hard to separate actual hunger from emotional hunger.

Emotional eating takes its toll on the body and causes weight gain. In order to stop emotional eating, you must first admit that there is a problem.

There are several triggers that can turn on the emotional eating tap. It is important to identify what triggers the emotional eating. Here are a few typical triggers:

Emotions

There are a multitude of triggers here: boredom, tension, anger, anxiety, stress, fatigue, depression, or loneliness as a way to “fill the void.” People who are uncomfortable with confrontation may deal with frustrations in their relationship may result in them reaching for the cookie jar, for example, rather than with communication. Food can take the attention off of these triggers and a host of other emotions we’d sometimes rather not feel, and is often used for this purpose.

Thoughts

We are what we think we are. If we think we are fat, we are going to eat to accommodate those thoughts. Eating as a result of negative self-worth or making excuses for eating. For example, getting cranky at oneself for looks or a lack of will power not to resist the food (get angrier and then eat more food).

Peer Pressure

 For example, excessive eating can result from being encouraged by others to eat; eating to fit in; arguing; or feelings of inadequacy around other people. Feeling obliged to eat when around other people so to not be a ‘misfit’.

Location

Eating because the opportunity is there. For example, at a restaurant, passing by the bakery, seeing an advertisement for a particular food. Eating  also tends to be associated with certain activities such as watching TV, going to the movies (popcorn and ice cream cones) or a sporting event (pie and chips at the footy), etc.

Physiological

For example, increased hunger due to skipping meals (big mistake) or eating to forget about pain.

When stressed or anxious, many people become “orally fidgety.” This often it leads to eating when not hungry. Many people, out of nervousness or boredom, just munch on chips or drink soda to give their mouths something to do (especially if they are not a smoker). This excuse is one of the biggest used for smokers who have given up.

Childhood Habits

Many of us have sub conscious thought processes from our childhood memories that revolve around food. Whether your parents used to reward you with sweets, fix your tantrums with an ice cream cone, make or buy your favorite meal to celebrate your successes. Most children develop some emotionally-based attachments to food while growing up. When in times of stress, few things can be as powerfully comforting or rewarding as your favorite food. Because many people don’t develop more effective coping strategies (going for a walk to calm down, cleaning the house etc), this type of emotional eating is very common: people eat to feel better, because it is there, to celebrate, eat to deal with the stress of being overweight.

To identify what triggers excessive eating in you, get a diary and record what and when you eat as well as what emotions, thoughts, or stress you identify as you eat. You will begin to identify patterns to your excessive eating fairly quickly.

When emotional hunger comes along, one of its distinguishing characteristics is that you’re focused on a particular food, which is likely a comfort food (mine is Ice Cream). Comfort foods are foods a person eats to obtain or maintain a feeling. Comfort foods are often wrongly associated with negative moods, and indeed, people often consume them when they’re down or depressed, but interestingly enough, comfort foods are also consumed to maintain good moods.

Ice cream is first on the comfort food list. After ice cream, comfort foods break down by sex: For women it’s chocolate and cookies; for men it’s pizza and steak.

If there is a particular subject you want me to write about, let me know in the comments section below!

Scott Williams

Succeed Personal Training

Australia’s Leading Fitness Expert

Hey Everybody,

I hope you are all doing great?

Just a very short post to let you know of an interview I had recently done with Rick from PT Business in a Box.

I would like to thank Rick for having me as the first of his PT Business Builder Interview’s.

Check it out here:

http://www.ptbusinessinabox.com.au/pt_builder_interview_scott_williams

This one is for the ladies…

What type of training do you prefer to do?? Let me know in the comments below. In the meantime have a read of my take on this matter.

If you’re a woman considering the possibility of exercising regularly, you may be wondering which type of fitness program is the most effective. I highly suggest that you give some serious thought to circuit style weight/ cardiovascular training. There are so many benefits to strength training regularly, particularly as you grow older. By training with weights or weight resistance, you will reduce signs and symptoms of numerous diseases and chronic conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, back pain and depression.

Many women shy away from the higher intensity circuit style weight training because they fear that they’ll end up looking like a muscular bodybuilder. This is physiologically impossible, since women lack the high levels of testosterone needed to “bulk up.” Rather than looking too muscular, you will become lean and toned. The muscle that you’ll build will burn far more calories than the fat you’re currently carrying around, which will result in your body becoming a calorie burning machine - even at rest.

As mentioned earlier, the benefits of circuit style strength and cardiovascular training go beyond physical beauty. Studies have shown that strength training can decrease pain associated with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis by up to 43%, and will most definitely increase your muscle strength and physical performance. The effectiveness of weight training in reducing the pain of osteoarthritis is just as significant (if not more so) as some medications used to treat this condition.

Additionally, post-menopausal women can lose bone mass at a rate of 1%-2% annually. Not to worry; circuit style strength and cardiovascular training actually increases bone density and reduces the risk of fractures in women.

If you’re concerned with your weight, then this style of training plays a significant role in managing women’s weight. As stated earlier, the muscle you build will burn more of the calories you consume. This is due to the fact that muscle is actually an active tissue, which consumes calories; stored fat, however, uses very little energy and doesn’t help to burn your caloric consumption. If you commit to a regular exercise routine, incorporating circuit style strength and cardiovascular training, your metabolic rate can be increased by up to 15%, which will be tremendously helpful for weight loss, as well as long-term weight control. Yes, the reduction in weight is fantastic when it comes time to try on a dress for that special occasion, but with a leaner body, you’re also reducing your risk of heart disease, which is the number one killer of middle aged women.

While the benefits of circuit style strength and cardiovascular training are quite obvious with regard to your overall health, physical appearance and weight control, did you know that weight training can actually help your state of mind, as well? Researchers believe this is because the more you train, the greater the amount of endorphins women create (the natural feel good drug). They feel better when they’re stronger, and weight training also may produce a biochemical change in the brain. By regularly training with weights and cardiovascular combined, your self confidence and self-esteem will be greatly improved, which will likely lead to a tremendous improvement in your overall quality of life.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “Whatever happened to the importance of just aerobic exercise?” Well, aerobic and cardio exercises most definitely have a positive impact on your overall health; after all, these types of exercises help to maintain your heart and lungs and increase your cardiovascular fitness and endurance - but, walking, running and swimming simply do not complete the picture, yet when combined with moderate weight training, the benefits are huge.

 If you want a lean, toned body with excellent bone density and muscle mass, it’s highly recommended that you train in this style at least three times a week.

What is the ideal training type for women I hear you ask? Great question and the answer is to look for a Cross Fit, Boot Camp type of training or a small group PT session in your area (just google the words and city you are in), as the majority of these classes will already have the perfect combination of both worked out for you. Be weary of the gym, health club based classes as they only work your body in one area, and that is either justs weights or just cardio.

Go ahead and get started; a lean, toned and beautiful body can be yours if you’re willing to invest even a small amount of time and effort.

 Scott Williams

Australia’s Leading Fitness Expert

Contributor and writer for Health Smart Magazine, Readers Digest

Well after nearly three months of various training sessions my last one has to be one of the hardest done to date.

I actually had to stop, I couldn’t finish the prescribed session. No excuses but it had been a big week and I was exhausted before I started (didn’t help I did inteval sprints around the lake before the session, and the day before with the Tuggeranong Hawks we did the Gordon Hill of Death sprints).

For those that have been following my training, hopefully you are starting to see that majority (not all) of the training is high intensity training using functional movements across the body.

Today’s session was a great full body session that with a few weights and swapping the rower for running could be done outside very easily.

Anyway here it is for you to have a go at. Let me know your time in the comments below:

30kg thrusters

30kg Sumo Deadlift High Pull

push ups

250m rower

burpees

20 reps of each exercise x 3 rounds for time

Time: 25.36

Thruster demo below:

Stay tuned for my new online training program and bootcampdownunder.tv that will be out in 2010.

Scott Williams

Succeed Personal Training